Never say never, Mr. Romney!!!

Lieutenant Anthony Circosta

I guess everyone in the world knew about this case before me. Thanks to my brother Richard in Connecticut, I now know about young Lieutenant Circosta and his dilemma. What it boils down to is this: When he was only 13 years old, he (Circosta) shot another boy in the arm with a BB gun. The shot didn't break the "victim's" skin, but his (admittedly foolish) action resulted in his conviction of an assault which is still in effect as I am keying this in. He is now a 29 year-old man who completed a second tour of duty in Iraq last year.

Because he wanted to become a police officer in Massachusetts--and still does, he asked the then-Governor of Massachusetts (Mitt Romney) for a pardon so that his record could be cleared and the way would also be cleared for him to become his boyhood dream.

Never mind that he was/is a decorated Iraq war veteran (Bronze Star; led a platoon of 20 in the deadly Sunni Triangle) ... but DO MIND that Governor Romney is stating as one of his proudest accomplishments the fact that he (Romney) denied EVERY SINGLE request for pardon or commutation of a sentence while he was Governor of Massachusetts--including that of Lieutenant Circosta. The pardon was recommended not once, but twice, by the Massachusetts Board of Pardons.

For Circosta, who works as a project manager for disaster restoration company, Romney's refusal is an ongoing source of frustration even today.

And quite frankly, this is a glaring reason (up front) why we should be cherry about considering Mr. Romney as a potential candidate for president of the United States. The very valid argument could be made that the blanket policy is an abdication of a key power given governors and the president--the ability to recognize how someone convicted of a past crime has turned their life around.

How many of you recall when President George W. Bush (then Governor of Texas) pursed his lips and mocked Carla Faye Tucker after she was executed with the words, "Please don't kill me"?

That statement by Mr. Bush must weigh heavily on the mind of "Scooter" Libby, who will be heading behind bars within two or three weeks.

And yes, Mr. Romney, you too should be thinking, but in your case you might think about that old adage, "never say naver" (vis-a-vis giving pardons and such) about now as your fellow Republicans are considering you as a possible nominee for President.